Thursday, June 14, 2012

Orange Drop Cookies

These Orange Drop Cookies are just beautiful, like little kisses of summer. They are a delicious soft shortbread with a subtle orange flavour. The first batch I made were gone in a few hours, before I could get a photo for this post, so I made some more the next morning!

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.Combine the flour and baking powder in a bowl, then stir in the almond meal. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar with electric beaters until thick and pale. Beat in the zest, vanilla and 1 egg, then stir in the flour mixture until well combined.Roll the dough into small balls (about 24). Place each ball on the baking tray and pinch the tops twice to form a peak.Beat the remaining egg with 1 tablespoon of water, then use to lightly glaze the biscuits.Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until the biscuits are firm to touch but are still pale.Allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with the icing sugar.Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Almond meal is ground up almonds. I found a packet in the baking isle in the supermarket.

A google search will tell you how to make your own, or will give you a bunch of alternatives. I've only made these using almond meal, so I don't know what they would be like using a different ingredient.